Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Superbooth 2026
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Superbooth header
Tech Superbooth 2026: all the latest synth news from Berlin - LIVE!
A MacBook Pro running Ableton Live DAW
Digital Audio Workstation Best DAWs 2026: The best digital audio workstations for PC and Mac
Roland TR-1000 Rhythm Creator
Drum Machines Best drum machines 2026: Top beat boxes for all budgets and skill levels
u-he Zebra 3 interface
Plugins u-he at Synth Week 2026: Zebra 3 is here!
KV331 Synthmaster
Plugins KV331 Audio at Synth Week 26: It's the last week of the SynthMaster 50% off spring sale
Soma Labs FLUX
Plugins SOMA Labs at Synth Week 26: Meet FLUX – the instrument you play without touching it
Cherry Audio heading
Plugins Cherry Audio at Synth Week 26: Get up to 60% off all their classic synths, all through May
GForce Software Oddity3
Synths How to master virtually any software synth
An Apple Mac Mini M4 on a light green background
Computers Best PCs for music production 2026: Apple Macs and Windows machines for your home studio
Neural DSP Darklgass Ultra
Bass Guitars Neural DSP unveils the Darkglass Ultimate plugin – a fully featured digital platform for studio-quality bass tone
plugins
Tech The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
Akai MPC Sample
Samplers Akai MPC Sample review
minimoog model d synth
Samples SampleRadar: 250 free bass synth samples
Software vs Hardware
Synths The ultimate synth shoot-out 2026: Hardware classics vs. their software successors - but can you really tell which is which?
Casio Casiotone CT-1
Keyboards & Pianos Best electronic keyboards 2026: Our top picks for every budget
More
  • Superbooth 2026
  • Kate Bush Army Dreamers
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Theory of Feels
  1. Tech
  2. Software & Apps
  3. Plugins

VST/AU plugin instrument/effect round-up: Week 68

News
By Ben Rogerson published 21 August 2013

More tools to put in your DAW's locker

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The latest releases

The latest releases

We've got synth and piano instruments for you this week, alongside a drum machine, a sampler with a difference and a couple of effects.

Also make sure you check out these regularly updated features:

The 39 best VST plug-in synths in the world today

The 14 best VST plug-in drum machines in the world today

If you've got a new PC or Mac plug-in, make sure you let us know about it by emailing musicradar.pressreleases@futurenet.com with all the details.

NEXT: Psychic Modulation Construct

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
Psychic Modulation Construct

Psychic Modulation Construct

Layering is the name of the game with this drum machine, which is based on a “sound design workflow”. Powered by both synthesis and samples, you can use Transient, Oscillator and Ambience layers to build up each sound, and you can use up to eight drum modules.

Buy or download demo of Psychic Modulation Construct

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
Adam Monroe Music Honky Tonk Piano

Adam Monroe Music Honky Tonk Piano

Fancy bashing out a bit of ragtime? This sample-based instrument is designed to give you the appropriate sound, which can be tweaked using reverb, chorus, delay and lo-fi effects. A standalone, cross-platform Kontakt library is also included in the price.

Buy Adam Monroe Music Honky Tonk Piano

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Manx XS-3

Manx XS-3

This replacement for the XS-2 emulates DCO technology from the '80s. There are two oscillators, three 6-stage envelope generators and a filter section that can be switched between mono and polyphonic. The synth is 8-note polyphonic.

Buy or download demo of Manx XS-3

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Cerberus Audio Epoch Dynamic Comb Filter

Cerberus Audio Epoch Dynamic Comb Filter

Designed as an alternative to traditional EQs and compressors, Epoch promises “musically reactive” equalisation and compression that offers a “wider range of tonal colour” than its rivals. Notable elements of the central comb filter section include a “360 degree phase rotator” and a “fractional delay”.

Buy or download demo of Cerberus Audio Epoch Dynamic Comb Filter

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
LVC-Audio Transector

LVC-Audio Transector

A transient design plugin that can be used to boost the initial attack of certain instruments (to add more crack to a snare or kick, for example) and to simultaneously decay portions of audio. It's highly customisable, offering three independent transient bands and extreme settings that you can get creative with.

Buy or download demo of LVC-Audio Transector

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Inear Display Tkapik

Inear Display Tkapik

It has a strange name and isn't much to look at, but Tkapik is actually an amplitude controlled generative sampler plugin. Or, to put it another way, once you've loaded it onto a track and loaded a sample into it, this will be triggered with random settings every time an amplitude peak is detected in the input signal.

Buy or download demo of Inear Display Tkapik

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
Dopekitz.com SubStation SubBass Workstation

Dopekitz.com SubStation SubBass Workstation

A collection of more than 50 sub and synth bass patches that are said to be suitable for use in hip-hop, R&B and dubstep. The idea is that they're ready to rattle your speakers right out of the box without any further processing. The control set is minimal, though you do get an ADSR envelope and a Glide knob.

Buy or download demo of Dopekitz.com SubStation SubBass Workstation

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
Ben Rogerson
Ben Rogerson
Social Links Navigation
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it. 

Read more
Ableton Drift
Soft Synths 5 amazing stock synths that come bundled with your DAW
 
 
synths
Tech 5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently
 
 
Synth Week 2026 logo
Synths Synth Week 2026: Exhibitor A-Z
 
 
plugins
Tech The ultimate soft synth showdown: Serum 2, Pigments, Phase Plant, Vital and Massive X: But which is best?
 
 
Arturia's Efx Ambient from FX Collection 6, being used in a studio
Tech Arturia's FX Collection 6 adds an ambient plugin specialising in "novel, emotive textures" and a souped-up H910
 
 
KV331 Synthmaster
Plugins KV331 Audio at Synth Week 26: It's the last week of the SynthMaster 50% off spring sale
 
 
Latest in Plugins
Splice/YouTube
Plugins Thinking of making your next music tech purchase on a rent-to-own plan? Read this first
 
 
Neural DSP Darklgass Ultra
Bass Guitars Neural DSP unveils the Darkglass Ultimate plugin – a fully featured digital platform for studio-quality bass tone
 
 
jimmy jam
Artists Jimmy Jam on sampling, AI and his new EastWest drum machine plugin
 
 
Man playing a moog at a desk in a field
Plugins Moog Messenger at Synth Week 26: One year with the new monosynth
 
 
synths
Tech 5 innovative synth plugins daring to do things differently
 
 
Sequential Fourm
Plugins "It’s amazing to have a pro, vintage sound in such a small package!" All about Sequential's Fourm…
 
 
Latest in News
Sadler Vaden takes a slide solo on a Rickenbacker
Artists “It’s a funny thing to imagine but it changes how you play”: Sadler Vaden's approach to slide guitar
 
 
US musician and record producer Teddy Riley performs on stage during the 2025 BET Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Michael Tran / AFP)
Artists Teddy Riley on how he sampled a single bar of a Bill Withers song and turned it into an R&B smash
 
 
Warm Audio Reamper: the all-in-one routing solution for reamping and adding effects to recorded tracks.
Guitars “Track a performance through your favorite tube amp while simultaneously capturing a dry signal as a safety”: Warm Audio’s Reamper is an analogue “creative routing hub” that could be the recording tool you’ve been waiting for
 
 
The Marshall 60th Anniversary Jimi Hendrix Collection features a Marshall 1959 Super Lead half-stack, and a special edition Dunlop Fuzz Face.
Guitars “We built the amps, Hendrix made them scream”: Marshall celebrates 60 years of Jimi Hendrix with “cosmic” anniversary collection including hand-wired amp, Fuzz Face and more
 
 
Superbooth 2026
Tech Stochastic sequences to a ‘render farm’ of drums: 8 great Eurorack releases from Superbooth 2026
 
 
Sphere lights up on December 08, 2024 in Las Vegas
Gigs & Festivals “We just couldn’t make it work”: Adam Jones reveals that Tool were meant to open the Sphere in 2023
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...